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Kenny Roberts dominated both 91.7 mile legs of the event. Roberts' only opposition came when Gregg Hansford
briefly t oo k the lead.
Steve Baker (321 chose to run both legs without a gas stop. The strategy worked once, but ultimately cost Baker
second place overall.
.
.
Formula 750 World Championship Road Race Series
. Round Three
Roberts romps at
Brands Batch
By Chris Carter
training period to take pole position
on the grid, and , well or not, had very
little trouble winning the races.
BRANDS HATCH , ENGLAND, APR . 23
Kenny Roberts, stricken with food poisoning
after eating some pork in Amsterdam , took
home the bacon from Brands Hatch when he
grabbed overall victory in the third round of
14
of the FIM Fo rmula 750 world
championship, by winning both
35-lap legs.
Roberts missed all of Friday's
practicing, and wasn 't feeling too fit
on Saturday. But with some med icine
inside him Kennyshattered the existing
lap record in the third and fin al
But if Roberts, in m agnificent form.
won th e points he needed to leapfrog
over Steve Bak er into second plac e in
the Formula 750 titl e chase. it was
b lond Austra lian Gregg Hansford .
making h is British d ebut, who ca p '
tured the hearts of th e fans .
T he re was not a big crown fo r Sun da y's meeting , but th e 20, 000 en thusiasts chee red every thing t ha t th e
Kawasaki rid er did , And Gr egg ce rtainly did a lot i On paper a scorecard
of three crashes a nd a fourth place in
three rides ma y not seem too sen sational, but it wasl
In the first race Gregg had moved
into second spot. behind Robert s. at
Druids on the second lap , but too
much front brake saw th e Aussie on
the ground , and every one had passed
him before he could restart.
When many lesser types would hav e
pulled out , Gregg , second fastest .,
Roberts in train in g , took on tlie
ch alle nge. By the end of th e race he
had climbed b a ck to fourth posit ion
a nd th e cro wd worsh ipped him .
The 250cc race, stra ight after, saw
Gregg tumble agai n . when th e engine
locked up , but he was back in th e saddie of th e b ig three cylinder for the
seco nd leg of th e 750 even t.
He swiftly moved from fifth to
second , and then brought th e crowd to
their feet by seizing th e lead on the
climb to Druids when Roberts was
baulked by a tai lenderl He not only
passed King Kenny , but began to
stretch the lea d for a la p or two. Then
Kenny began to qui cken his pa ce, and
regained number on e spot on the 16th
la p .
Hansford did not last much longer.
A lap later he was forced wide by a
lapped rid er a t t he approach to
Hawthorn . and down he went. Injuring his wrist.
With Gregg out th e interest in
ra ce di ed too .
Rob ert s ca nte re d hom e , bu t
unlucky Steve Baker was robbed of
even runner-up pla ce in this leg, and
the final placings. He'd gambled on a
no.n-stop run in the last leg , and
almost pipped Roberts to the line .
But th en the Na va Oli o Fi at
Yamaha went sick in th e closing sta ges
of th e second race. a nd Steve's brave
attempts to coax it home were in vain .
He had to pull off the track just seco nds before Roberts lapped him for tlie
second time , and so he failed to score
any points!
Runner -up . thanks to Steve's
misfortunes, was Johnny Cecotto. The
Venezuelan, on the works Yamaha
claimed by many to be th e fastest bike
in the race, was third in both ra ces.
complaining of tire and suspensio
prob lems.
Best British performa nce , overall .
came fro m John Newbold , who was
eigh th . But John would be the firs t to
admit that ot her British performances
were a litt le more st irring, if less con sistentl
Dave Potter lost six laps in the first
leg when the gearbox sp rocket nut
came off. He restarted to finish 26th
and last, but Potter, on Ted Broad's
Yamaha, made up for that disappointm ent in th e second leg .
With an exce llent ride Dave battled
through to seco nd pla ce behind
Roberts , and that was e no ug h to gi ve
him ten th spo t overall, and one ha rd
ea rn ed championship point.
Stev e Manship was lying sixt h in the
first leg till he stra yed off line at
Hawthorn because of petrol on his
visor , and cras hed heavily. He hurt his
legs and couldn't rid e again .
Barry Ditchburn a lso helped restore
some fai t h in British talent with a first
race fifth . and a second rac e that
looked set to give him a spot in the first
six, till th e Sid Griffiths' Yamaha
seized .
•
Results
Overall: 1. K. Rober ts (Yaml: 2. J. Cecono (Yam); 3.
P. Pons (Yam): 4. C. Sarron IYam): 5. H. RigaIIYam) ; 6.
W . Willing (Yam) : 7. J . Sayle IYam): 8. J . Newbold
(Yam ); 9 . M . Matikainen (Yam ); 10. D. Potter (Yam) .
First Leg (35 laps, 91 .7 mil es): 1. K. Roberts (Yam ); 2.
S . Baker (Yam) ; 3. J . Cecctto (Yam); 4 . G. Hansf ord
(Kawl; 5. B. Ditchburn (Yam); 6. B. Fau (Kaw); 7. J.
Sayle IYam ); 8. H. Rigal (Yam ): 9. P. Pons (Yaml; 10. W.
W illing {Yarn].
Record : K. Rob ert s fYamll m 34 .4s. 99 .67 mph .
Old Record: 8 . Sheen e ISuz) 1m 35 .2s. 98.83 mph.
Seco nd Leg : 1. Robe rts (Yam) SSm, 51.4s, 96 .54
am); 4 . Pon s (Yam);
mph . 2. Pett ee (Yam l; 3. Ceco tto